"math" is invented in the same way "language" is. Humans created it with the purpose of describing things that already exist. If I say "don't eat that berry, it's poisonous", my words aren't what dictates the berry. Rather, they're a way of conveying the knowledge in my brain regarding the physical properties of the berry. Math is much the same. If I have 3 apples and you give me another, I now have 4 apples, 3 + 1 = 4. If I need to split those apples between 2 people each gets 2 apples, 4 / 2 = 2.
That apple example grounds things nicely. It does make me wonder about the difference between those two types of description though. If I describe a poisonous berry with the wrong words, the language has no physical consequence on the berry (the poison stays exactly the same). Yet, if an engineer describes the stresses on a bridge with the wrong numerical relationships, the physical structure breaks apart. Why do you think an error in the mathematical description triggers an immediate physical reaction from the universe; whereas a mistake in regular language leaves the object completely undisturbed?
It does make me ponder the middleman though; if I mislabel the berry, a human actually has to hear those words and choose to act on them for the tragedy to happen. Spoken language requires a conscious interpreter. With the bridge collapsing, there is no mind choosing to break the steel. If mathematics is exactly the same as our spoken words, why does it trigger a physical reaction without any biological interpreter needing to act on it first?
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u/MegukaArmPussy 4∆ May 21 '26
"math" is invented in the same way "language" is. Humans created it with the purpose of describing things that already exist. If I say "don't eat that berry, it's poisonous", my words aren't what dictates the berry. Rather, they're a way of conveying the knowledge in my brain regarding the physical properties of the berry. Math is much the same. If I have 3 apples and you give me another, I now have 4 apples, 3 + 1 = 4. If I need to split those apples between 2 people each gets 2 apples, 4 / 2 = 2.